Where's the Love?

You remember the line; “love means never having to say you’re sorry.”  That was the closer for the movie,”Love Story”, and a whole generation sighed.  But does that then mean that “never having to say you’re sorry” reflects how full of love you are for the rest of humanity?  Sadly, if that be true, then some of our politicians are a lot like Jud, in "OKLAHOMA!", who “loved everybody, only he never showed it.”

Some politicians these days just hate the words, “I’m sorry”; it’s particularly a problem when the subject is foreign policy.  I’d like to think it’s because they really love everybody but have trouble showing it.  After all, it would be kind of miserable to be led by mean-spirited types who were filled with hate and arrogance toward anyone who disagreed with them and just spoiling for a fight.  Sort of like the Godfather standing in for Uncle Sam. Surely they’re not like that! You know, to bring in another Hollywood type, they’re just big hearted Fonzies, who stutter at words like “love” and “sorry”, and gushy stuff like that, but really mean well despite that.  That would mean we could understand them simply as people who  never grew up past their teenage years; remember, those years when you’re really unsure that you’re big enough to deal with the world around you, but want to hide that uncertainty by acting like the baddest dude on the block.  Unfortunately, everyone else recognizes that, too.

Once you’re an adult, of course, you grow past that.  It’s what’s called acquiring judgment and experience.  You learn that just because a person disagrees with you, that doesn’t automatically make him, or her, an enemy.   It may even dawn on you that people tend to act the way you act toward them; hostility begets hostility, civility engenders civility, and cooperation can lead to cooperation.  And in the multi-power world of the 21^st century, cooperation is what we need a lot more of.  That’s why we need adults managing foreign policy, not just glowering teenagers.  So, let’s hope those politicians can act grown up and start showin’ the Love.